Ideas on adapting the Season 10 comics into a movie · 8:11am Feb 15th, 2022
If I got to adapt the Season 10 comics into a movie, I would want to make some revisions that would have made the comics much stronger. Here are my main ideas:
1. Give Spike a major role. Have him take part in the blast of magic that defeats the Knights of Order. Spike might also be the one who attends every mission to the new foreign lands. (Having one who attends every mission also helps make for a movie that feels like one continuous story, rather than feeling chopped up.) The movie might have the following subplot: Spike's relationship with Twilight is starting to sour -- because he sometimes feels that he's an afterthought to her. Sometimes she feels more like his master than a true friend.
Spike is taken along mainly because he can send and receive letters -- not because they expect him to be a full part of the mission. For him, this is the final straw that makes him nearly give up hope that Twilight can ever be a true friend for him.
This may give an opportunity for Spike to get closer to Luna, starting to become best friends with her. Luna starts to recognize and appreciate that ponies working the nightshift practically idolize her instead of Celestia. Spike starts to appreciate that the Crystal Empire loves him at least as much as they love Cadance. Spike starts to realize he can still have a happy relationship with Twilight despite feeling a little estranged from her. Luna starts to feel the same about her sister.
At that point, Twilight realizes she's pushing Spike away by mistake. Celestia starts to feel the same about her sister. It will still be a rocky road. But at least Twilight and Celestia understand where they're going wrong. Spike and Luna. Knowing that things are getting better, Spike and Luna start showing more patience.
2. Give Shining Armor a major role. When the Knights of Order attack, let him and his Guard put up a pretty good fight -- causing at least a few bruises to the villains -- before getting inevitably defeated. Upon defeat, let Shining Armor share his own words of wisdom. Something like this:
"What are your Elements again ... Loyalty, Equity, Pride, Acceptance, Magic, and Faith? So tell me ... how can you stand for Equity if you're trying to destroy innocent creatures? How can you stand for Acceptance? You have certainly shown none to us! And, Danu -- what good is Loyalty if you're loyal to the wrong cause? Pride without compassion is nothing but arrogance. I don't know what you mean by 'Faith' -- but this certainly isn't it!
"How can you call yourselves the Elements of Patriotism? You are abandoning the principles that make a country worth living in. Patriotism is not about destroying other countries so that you can be strong. It's about making the world a better place. Your Magic has gone dark. Your Patriotism is false."
(At that point, Danu might say something like, "I don't need to take advice from enemies!" Ceridwen might say, "I love my people very much. I will do anything to protect them -- and I will not let misplaced sympathy get in my way!")
3. Given that the Knights of Order are starting to lose the principles their Elements stand for, they should show some clear signs that their Elements are starting to fail. However, this is partially offset by their natural superpowers. Because the Mane 6 have never truly mastered the magic of their Elements, they remain at a serious disadvantage.
This would help explain why Ceridwen didn't destroy Canterlot at the very start. Given her size-changing powers, she should have been able to do it in one fell swoop. Did she start to have moral misgivings? (The comics, I think, left subtle clues that she was trying to suppress her doubts.) Were her powers severely diminished by trying to destroy Ornithia -- which ought to compromise her connection with the Element of Equity? Maybe it was a combination of the two.
4. Allow the movie to be three hours long. This way, there's far better opportunity for world building, along with some fun side stories. If this were a licensed project made mainly by fans -- and meant mainly for direct-to-video -- then normal commercial restrictions on movie length need not apply.
